BTC stalks beastly mark

Crypto remains a runaway train. Indeed, $100K Bitcoin could arrive at any moment.

The latest record high for the largest crypto came during the wee hours of Friday, Nov. 22. BTC reached $99,486.10, according to CoinGecko.

Lost in the excitement was a huge achievement for Solana (SOL). The fourth-largest crypto, practically left for dead two years ago at this time in the midst of FTX's collapse, touched just shy of $263. That's a new all-time high.

Meanwhile, XRP is on an absolute rampage, up 31% in 24 hours. It's not like all legal headaches for Ripple have 100% vanished. But SEC Commissioner Gary Gensler did confirm he is resigning effective Jan. 20. And so it's a remarkably explosive time for XRP, the token associated with Ripple, the ledger technology company sued four years ago by the SEC for securities laws violations; XRP is now almost $1.50. The last time that mark was hit was spring of 2021.

Not to be left out, Stellar's native Lumen (XLM) shot up 25% since this time yesterday. XLM is above 30 cents for the first time in three years.

The total worldwide crypto market capitalization has reached $3.4 trillion, a record.

We are of course keeping an eye on major coins flirting with big milestones. As of 8:08 a.m. (EST), Bitcoin was $98,593, per CoinGecko. BTC shed 0.8% in roughly five hours since hitting an ATH near $99.5K.

XRP has slipped to $1.45 after being $1.49. That happened in less than half an hour as we were checking on XLM just a moment ago, yikes.

Other burning questions on this volatile morning: Is Cardano (ADA) holding 90 cents? Is Dogecoin still 40 cents? Answers as of a little while ago: Yes and yes.

How are the memecoins doing? Not great. Peanut the Squirrel (PNUT) and Goatseus Maximus (GOAT) are two of today's worst performers. The latter, GOAT, No. 114, has declined 18% in 24 hours. GOAT is still up 36% in 30 days. As for PNUT, the 87th-largest digital asset, it lost 13% since this time yesterday. PNUT is up more than 900% in two weeks of trading.

At 8:20 a.m. (EST), Bitcoin was $98,312.58, as investors revisit macro scenarios involving ... wait, are we not on the precipice of history? Is BTC not hitting $100,000?

While there's no shortage of bullish long-term bets in terms of futures and options traders pricing massive milestones and beyond, well into next year, "a short-term pullback near $100K is anticipated," CoinDesk said.

We checked BTC again at 8:40 a.m. (EST). It's fading. $98,100. Oh well.

Widely held long-term bullish forecasts aside, many analysts have been cautioning this could happen, that is, right at the intersection of Unsustainable Enormity and Nevertheless Historic there could be a brutal tug-of-war as bears wager the $100K line is too heavy a crown.

As recently as early October, $100K seemed way out of reach, at least for this calendar year, with digital gold mired for months in a narrow range sub-$65K.

“Predictions of BTC at 100K aren't a pipedream anymore," traders at Singapore-based QCP Capital told CoinDesk.

“We'll be looking for a blow-off top," chimed in SOFA's Augustine Fan.

SOFA is a DAO focused on DeFi innovation. Fan is SOFA's head of insights. The potential for a "blow-off" top is just what you'd suspect - a rapid, steep climb followed by a descent that is just as hairy. In that dreadful scenario, the $70K threshold would become a psychologically non-negotiable line in the mud.

Worrisome sentiment is shared by Maksym Sakharov, co-founder of WeFi, and who earlier this week told CoinDesk a harsh new reality - that the Fed is no longer in a rush to cut interest rates - has forced investors to re-evaluate their risk-asset bets.

Should the Fed continue to adopt a hawkish stance, "the attractiveness of BTC may decrease,” Sakharov added.